Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-01-21
volume Of labor, and should receive the

volume of labor, and should receive the
fostering care of the government, and moi
be dominated by any single interest,
however important, within the Legitimate
sphere OF its operation OF usefulness.
Shall it be said that Texas has invited q
power that can, at its will, deprive the
citizen of the reward of his honest in
dustry in his own state and at his own
! homestead, and the states arm which he
has toiled to nerve, cannot be extended to
afford him redress? II so, il Will be q
! confession that the wisdom and courage
| which achieved political Independence,
has dsgenerated into that stupidity and
pnmanlIness which forfeits material in
| dependence also. II would seem that
these corporations ought not TO be I'M
mindful of the sohCitude 90 recently
manifested for their rights, privileges
and imE7 Gnities, and should not wait to
be admOnished to 90 full justice to the
people of Texas by spontaneous act,
as broad ana general Is the circum-
stances warrant, Just and benefceut.
Ard II DehOoveS them to cultivate u
proper respect for the law in the people,
by an exhibition Of proper respect for the
law N themselves. II they do not pro-
pose 20 abide by the laws of our state,
with what grace can they claim protec-
ton against those who may assail their
Just rights:
For the first time in the history Of our
state, we have seen the laboring classes
enlisting uuder the broad banner of inGo-
Walton, determined to meet combination
with combination, ia $ fierce and despcr-
ate conflict against the ine&Orable de
mands OF system deemed by them SUBJ
yerslve Of the philosophy of mutual
rights in business; and, as we cannot ats
ford 10 see our state made the battle
ground OF disorder and anarchy, while
leaving nothing undOne 10 Iepress vio-
lenCe, it Is our solemn Cuty to remove all
just grounds tor its prOvocatioU, in order
mat We may restore confidence and es-
tablish better feeling by providing, ii
possible, g remedy against oppression by
capital, or riots by lsborers. The more
so, since in the contests between these
warning factions, it is the innocent, in
every instance, WHO suffer most. The
farming class, and business of AL kinds,
pay tribute ny being taxed in increased
freight rates, to make good the loss in
running expenses, and otherwise.
However desirable they may be for the
development of our state, we caDrOt have
q railroad built by every mans house. 1t
is ell the more necessary, there fore, that
the people shall have good public high
ways Well kept, by improving, if possible,
our road laws-nOw SO badly in ne d Of
revision. Turnpikes made the valleys of
Virginia, Kentucky and Middle Tennes-
see rIca, long before they had any rail-
roads. Good highways are worth more,
in inducing immigration and capital than
all the speeches. and publications that
can be made about the uudeveloped re-
sources of our state. They increase the
value of property and add greatly to the
revenues of tne state-slimUlate prOduc-
ton by saving intellectually in time and
money to the prOduCerS-and al business
and industrial interests are intimately in
vOlved ia the matter.
The ownership of land is not only an
element of great political power, but no
class of people can make any very APP
preCIable advance in civilization without
It's possession. There is but little 20
produce patriotism or pride of country,
in people who are tenants at will-tne
soil they tend belonging to others, and OF
which they may be deprived ct pleasure
and even their labor worthless without
the patronage of the strong. Govern
ment should, therefore, feel Itself Con
stantly bound to admins er its public
lards with sedulous care, in order that
the greatest number of its people may
secure homes ct nominal cost, with
security OF title. The problem confront
ing the people OF Texas in this counec-
ton, comprehends the disposition of a
vast commonwealth as 8 great trust,
created and assumed by the state gov
eminent as 3 common fund to be held
and administered for the best use and
benefit of all tae people. To divert these
lands from that general object, ~ mis-
apply or sacrifice them, to squander or
imprOvidently cast them away, would be
alike subversive of the interests Of the
people and contrary to the plain dictates
of ty, by which the state stands bound
in the conditions under which 1t holds
this public property, and for the fulfill
ment of which it's faith is pledged.
Looking upon the lands remaining, as
cession for the benefit of the special funds
to which they have been dedicated as q
productive capital, available for immedi-
ate use in lettering the fortunes and con-
ditions of the present generation, as well
as their posterity, by relieving them IN
some measure from the burdens of op-
pressive taXatiOn-a sale to actual set
tiers, in conjunction with leases Of unsold
lands, has become the avowed policy of
the state. But, as they clearly involve
sntagf nistic principles, the great practi
csl difficulty with which we are confront
ed is the adoption of a complex system
by which each may he made to contribute /
its best results to the public benefit.
The celebrated Edmond Burke, in re-
commencing that the forest lands of the
British crown should be brought into
market and converted into private pro-
perry at a moderate price, laid down the
following Just and profound maXlms of
political economy: " The principal
revenue which | propose TO draw from
these uucultivated wastes, is to spring
from the Improvement and population of
the kingdom-eyents Infinitely more ad
vs. Gtsgenus to the crown than the rents
Of the best larded estates VII Ch it CaI :
mold. would thrccia1 thsm into the mass
of private property, by which they will
come through the course Of circulation
nnd through the political secretions Of
the state, into well regulated revenue"
The history of the landed system Of the !
United States furnishes the most con
vincing proof of the value of this policy |
Recognizing that the strength and !
wealth OF the country consists not go |
much in the money to be eXacted as the |
price of public lands, as in the increase |
of the population and the cultivation of |
the soil, and while regarding the public |
lards ASA common fund, and seeking to /
make what reasonably could be made of !
them as source Of revenue, it applied |
its hest wisdom to sell and settle them
as fast and as happily as possible-dis-
posing of the soil in smaller, snd still
smaller portions, with the view of en-
Gbling everv industrious man in the couu-
try, however, p7or, to become 2 free
holder. In like manner, it has been the
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